


The Bride of Hobak

by TeaJamsCookies



Series: A Shot Of Oneshots [2]
Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Also btw Idk if Hobak is a male or a female, Beomgyu can speak with animals lol, Best Friends Choi Beomgyu & Choi Yeonjun, But even if Hobak is a female, Hobak is Taehyun's newly adopted cat, I'm scared and excited for the feedback so hit me with it!, Inspired by the name of The Bride of Habaek, It was supposed to be crack but turned into this becuz I I can't write crack, M/M, My first TaeGyu, Seoltang means sugar by the way, So Hobak is a male cat in this fanfic, Sweetheart Choi Beomgyu, Then Hobak is gay and has a bride idc idc, Whipped Choi Beomgyu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28339410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaJamsCookies/pseuds/TeaJamsCookies
Summary: Taehyun's cat, Hobak, keeps disappearing when he goes to university and his part-time job. One day, he finds his cat with the cute boy who lives next door and from there on starts the ridiculous yet romantic search for the bride of Hobak!
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Series: A Shot Of Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1990885
Comments: 4
Kudos: 127
Collections: 10LastStarsWithTXT





	The Bride of Hobak

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my first TaeGyu fanfic ever. I actually have a YeonBin ready in my drafts, I have been writing it for the past 2 months now, but in the 10LastStars event, TaeGyu comes first, so I'm uploading this fanfic first!  
> The title and the story was actually inspired by a mistake I made when I was going through a list of k-dramas with the highest ratings and I read "The Bride of Habaek" as "The Bride of Hobak" accidentally. After that, the idea just played around in my mind and I had to write this!
> 
> 【Guide:  
> ✿ = Scene change!  
> ❀ = POV (Point Of View) + Scene change!】

Kang Taehyun was a busy boy.

University life was hard, and struggling with a part-time job on top of that meant that he was out of his small apartment for 14 hours a day. Socialising hadn't been his thing, as he prioritised studies over the fun and glamour of college life and so he chose to live without a roommate– or rather, apartment-mate.

And when he came back home at 10 in the night, he couldn't deny that he was lonely. He was; he just hid it under the many layers of homework and just work. But at the end of the day, coming back to a small, empty and dead apartment seemed to eat him up on the inside. 

And so he decided to get himself a cat. 

He had always wanted a cat and as per what he knew, cats sleep for ⅔rd of their lives. And cats weren't big on physical affection or anything so it won't miss him too much. Or atleast, he hoped so. And so, he went to the place where he could adopt a cat and ended up with a large furball named Hobak.

He hadn't named him; Hobak was his name since birth and he responded to that so Taehyun decided to just use it. Anyway, it was a pretty cute name that suited the orangish-brown cat with amber eyes. 

And well, our story starts on the third day since Taehyun had got the cat in his small apartment. The apartment was literally small, a cramped room that was a mix of kitchen and living room and another cramped space which was a mix of bedroom and bathroom. But for a university student, it was pretty much a good deal with reasonable rent, so Taehyun wasn't complaining. 

It was the middle of November and the weather was getting chillier. Taehyun bent down to look at the cat as he wrapped his blue scarf neatly around his neck. The clock on the stand next to the door was reaching 8 in the morning.

"Take care, little buddy, okay?" He smiled at Hobak, unsure whether the cat could actually understand him. He hoped he got the feelings behind his words, atleast. "I've kept your food like yesterday so make sure to eat when you feel hungry. I'm coming a little early today so you won't be alone for too long! Actually, 12 hours is still a long time..."

Taehyun just lightly patted Hobak on the top of his head and Hobak responded with a quiet little, "Meow" which made Taehyun giggle. He stood up and waved goodbye to him before going out and locking his apartment. He felt bad locking the cat in, but he couldn't risk any theft. He was a university student after all and every penny mattered. 

As Taehyun walked down the long hallway to reach the elevator, he thought about his day ahead and his classes– but he never thought about the panic and horror that would settle in him just 12 hours later.

✿

Taehyun's eyes trained onto his wristwatch that showed the time of 8:14 in the night. He couldn't wait to crash into his small two-person couch with Hobak and eat his take-out dinner while scrolling through his social media. 

He entered the building's lobby and went straight for the elevator towards the right. Someone was already standing there and Taehyun eyed them quickly, trying to figure out if he had seen them before. 

The figure huffed as he turned around and glanced at Taehyun, who was now waiting beside him. Taehyun suddenly recognised the boy. Well, not really, since he didn't know his name, but he knew that the boy lived on the same floor as him. He often saw him and his pink-haired friend going out of their apartment during the mornings and he was pretty sure he also shared a class or two with the boy in his university. 

The boy gave him a small smile and a nod and Taehyun was struck for a second, before he hastened to respond with the same. He had thought the boy looked cute before in passing, but when he smiled, god, he really was gorgeous. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Taehyun trained his eyes on the elevator, wishing for the thing to come sooner so he could just crash into his apartment already. 

The boy didn't say anything and Taehyun couldn't say anything, not when he had finally taken a good look at the other boy's (beautiful) face and so the trip upwards to the third floor was a silent and awkward moment, that Taehyun didn't want happening ever again. God, why did he have to get tongue-tied in front of cute boys...

Taehyun's apartment was farther from the elevator than the other boy's so the boy stopped in front of his door while Taehyun trudged on towards his apartment, leering at the boy one last time– the black-haired boy was fiddling by his apartment door, playing with the strap of his bag with a small pout on his face. Cute. 

Taehyun didn't let himself think about him too much, because his cheeks were starting to tint pink the more he looked at the boy. He finally reached his door and pulled out his key to open the door. The inside was dark and Taehyun immediately switched on the lights before closing the door behind him.

"Hobak!" He called out. "I'm home!"

Taehyun had Tuesdays and Fridays off early from work and since he had gotten Hobak on a Sunday, he still hadn't spent much time with him. He really wanted to spend some time with the cat.

He expected the cat to appear, maybe let out a meow but nothing moved and it was all silent. He wondered if the cat was asleep inside and walked over to the bedroom, but he couldn't see him anywhere. 

Panic started to rise in him as he started going around the apartment, trying to find the cat but he was nowhere. He even checked the bathroom and inside the toilet! But Hobak couldn't be found and Taehyun felt helpess and scared; he didn't know what to do.

He had locked the door. Could Hobak have left somehow? But how? Through where? He decided to check the corridors anyway and opened his front door. The halls were empty and the five other doors on the floor seemed desolate.

His mind switched to the boy from before. He could ask him to help... No, not at all. Taehyun shook the thoughts out of his head. Hobak. He needed to find Hobak by himself. He looked around carefully, trying to figure out where could he have gone. 

Suddenly, another idea came to him. What if... somebody kidnapped Hobak?! Taehyun was panicking a lot more and the fact that he was tired and exhausted wasn't helping him. 

He scrambled inside, dropping himself on his couch, letting his door remain half open, hoping Hobak would come back. That if he had gone somewhere by himself, he would know the way back home... 

"Hobak," he said defeatedly. "Where are you? Hobak... Hobak..."

He didn't know what to do so he decided to Google it. He looked up the answers, and they said to contact nearby shelters, to contact the police if there aren't any shelters. He could post it online on his social media and put up posters–

"Meow."

Taehyun's head whipped around so fast, he was sure his neck cricked loud enough for the cat himself to hear. The orange cat was standing in the doorway to his bedroom, staring at him with his large amber eyes. 

"Meow."

"Hobak!" Taehyun scrambled out of his sitting position and nearly pounced on the cat, scooping him up into his arms. "Oh my god, you're okay! Where did you go? I called so much but you didn't answer! Were you hiding somewhere in the bedroom? But I looked everywhere.... But God, I'm just happy to see you here, safe and sound."

How Taehyun wished that he had the ability to talk to animals in that moment because Hobak let out a series of meows, almost as if he was consoling the red-haired boy. 

If only he knew what Hobak was actually saying...

✿

When Friday rolled around and Taehyun returned home early again, Hobak was once again no where to be found. Taehyun forced himself to be calm and looked around the entire house calmly until he found Hobak squeezed behind the toilet pipes. 

It was suspicious, the way Hobak kept loitering around the bathroom and Taehyun realised soon that this was a daily occurrence. 

The next two weeks saw him not finding Hobak every time he came home early. He observed that Hobak appeared around 9 in the night and since Taehyun normally returned by 10, maybe Hobak goes missing every day. 

The fifth time this occurred, Taehyun found Hobak in his bathtub and he was pretty sure that he had checked there. He had stopped getting as panicked as before, but he was still worried about where Hobak went and how he kept disappearing. 

His eyes fell on the bathroom vent window and he realised that it was shut; but when he had checked before, hadn't it been open? He had his doubts but he wasn't too sure. 

The entire situation and reoccurring disappearance of Hobak was getting concerning for Taehyun. In fact, the Friday of the third week since he had got Hobak, he was worried the entire day of not being able to find Hobak when he returned. 

He was getting distracted at work, the small bakery that lied right between his university and his apartment building, and ended up giving the wrong bills two times before the manager, Seokjin, called him over.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice showing the gentleness despite his look of authority and unhappiness. "You're never this distracted. Did something happen?"

"Ah, no," Taehyun shook his head. "I'm sorry for this... It's just that my cat keeps disappearing and I don't know what to do."

"Ah, the new one you just adopted?" Dongju, his fellow co-worker, asked him in passing as he placed a used tray behind the counter. 

"Yeah," Taehyun nodded. 

"Hm, that's weird," Seokjin commented. "But he comes back?"

"Yeah, at 9 o'clock everyday," Taehyun answered. "And the worst part is, I don't know how..."

"Huh," Seokjin seemed very interested in the entire matter but the bell near the door jingled and a customer entered so they had to go back to work. It was one of their regulars, a boy from Taehyun's university named Soobin, who smiled at him as he made way to the register where Taehyun worked. 

"Hey," he said brightly. "Two cream puffs for today."

"Alright, anything else?" Taehyun asked, waving his hand at the freshly baked bread pieces that were set on display. "We have this new type of banana bread, would you like to try?"

"I would," Soobin looked at the bread on display longingly, "but I'm going on a date with my boyfriend right now so I can't take it along. Tell you what, I'll drop by here tomorrow and get it then! For now, just the two cream puffs will do."

"Alright, that would be..." Taehyun quickly typed in the products and exchanged the bill and the money. Soobin went on to show the bill to San, another of his co-workers, who quickly pulled out two cream puffs and sealed them into a small paper bag for Soobin to take. "Please visit again!"

"You know I always do," Soobin laughed, his dimples flashing as he left the shop with a wave to all the workers there. They all genuinely liked the bright and shy boy since he appeared there a lot of times and was incredibly nice to them without fail.

"You know what, Taehyun-ah?" Seokjin said suddenly. "Take today off a little early. It's only an hour before your usual time, but we can manage. I'm planning on closing the shop early today anyway."

"Why?" San wiggled his eyebrows at the older man suggestively. "Do you have a date?"

"Yah, respect your elders!" Seokjin cried out, but the faint blush on his face was visible, confirming their suspicions that Seokjin was indeed going on a date with his boyfriend, the handsome and charismatic Psychology professor at their university, Kim Namjoon. 

"I can stay, hyung," Taehyun tried to say but Seokjin shooed him to the back room with a, "Nonsense! I'm the manager here, you work under me so listen to what I say. Go on home and find out what your cat is doing! Then tell me the details tomorrow!"

So yeah, that's how he found himself outside his apartment building at 7:24 in the evening. The sky was already dark enough to mistake for late night and the cold winds of November were harsh on his face. Taehyun made his way inside, wondering if this was really going to help. 

As the elevator opened and he stepped in, he felt gratefulness rush into him at the warm air inside. He was tired but there was still a little bit of an assignment remaining and he couldn't wait to finish it and maybe cuddle a bit with Hobak before calling it a day. 

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, revealing a very interesting sight to Taehyun. Hobak was sitting in the middle of the passageway, and the black-haired boy from down the hall was crouched in front of him, petting the top of his head. Taehyun realised he was saying something to Hobak and quickly stepped out of the elevators to catch what he was saying.

"...ut it's not impossible," he was saying with this sparkle in his eyes to cat, almost as if Hobak could understand him. "Don't give up, Hobak! We'll find her, okay?"

"Um, what are you doing with my cat?" Taehyun asked as politely as he could, not wanting to sound rude. The boy's head snapped up and for a second, Taehyun thought he saw fear flash in his eyes before the boy smiled. 

"Oh, Taehyun-ssi," the boy straightened up, the bright smile on his face reminding Taehyun of beautiful he always looked. "I'm glad I met you here. I wanted to talk to you about Hobak."

It took him a second but it suddenly clicked to Taehyun that the boy knew his name. Red flashed his cheeks as he stuttered out a quick, "What about him?"

"Um, Hobak here has been coming to our apartment through the bathroom vent for the past weeks," the boy said casually, as if he normally had cats and dogs streaming into his apartment through bathroom vents every other day. "And well, I wasn't sure why he kept coming from there until I realised that you lock your doors so he can't leave through the front door."

"Wait, so he's been going to your apartment all this time?" Taehyun asked, eyebrows furrowed. The initial thought of a cute boy knowing his name had evaporated and the practical part of his brain was now on high alert. The boy was still basically a stranger who knew his and his cat's name. It was strange and creepy if he actually put a bit of a thought to it. 

"He has," the boy nodded. "Yeonjun got scared the first time Hobak entered out apartment, and scolded me because he thought I brought him in but then I explained that it wasn't me and I asked Hobak how he entered so he told me that he came through the bathroom vent–"

"Wait a minute," Taehyun interrupted him, staring at the boy with wide eyes. "Hobak told you that he came through the bathroom vent?"

"Oh, yeah," the boy nodded, looking around with wide eyes to check if anyone was there in the corridors before comically lowering his voice to a whisper as he leaned forward and said, "The thing is, I can talk to animals. They understand what I am saying and I understand what they're saying."

"Right," Taehyun dragged the word a bit, not believing one word that came from the boy's mouth. So not only was he a creepy weirdo who knew both his and his cat's name, but he also had lost his sanity and believed that he could talk to animals. Of course Taehyun's luck had to be like this and he had to come across this strange boy. The boy pouted cutely though, as if he knew that Taehyun didn't believe him.

"I really can," he said, his eyes wide and pleading and innocent looking. They almost tempted Taehyun to play along but he had to hold onto the last shred of his dignity as well as sanity and Taehyun just raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you don't even know me, do you? I'm Choi Beomgyu, I live in the apartment next to yours. You've seen me around here, right?"

"I have but I haven't seen you talking to animals ever," Taehyun said dryly. Beomgyu laughed at that.

"It's supposed to be a secret, dumbo," he said in a hush-hush voice when he finally stopped laughing. "If people find out that I can do that, they will take me to a lab and experiment of me!"

Maybe it was the way the dark-haired boy's eyes widened comically and how he looked at Taehyun in horror as he spoke. Or maybe it was the way he looked so cute and adorable in his large cream-coloured hoodie as he stared at him under the hallway lights. Whatever the reason was, Taehyun found the boy endearing and he could feel his heart beating hard in his chest.

"Really, Yeonjun-hyung told me," Beomgyu nodded gravely. "I believe him. It's not impossible. Now-a-days, people can't wait to get their hands on anything out of the ordinary and experiment on them!"

"If that is so," Taehyun found his voice suddenly, "then why are you telling me? What if I sell you out to those people?"

"Well," Beomgyu looked a bit taken back and unsure of him now. "I told you because I have something to tell you about Hobak. And you seemed truthworthy. Plus Hobak said that you're a nice guy, so I believe him. Animals can sense what a person is actually like."

Taehyun was tired. He didn't have the energy to actually entertain Beomgyu anymore, no matter how cute the boy was and seemed interesting.

"What do you want to tell me about Hobak?" He asked with a tired face, deciding that his next decisions will be based on what the guy says. 

"Well, I know this is going to sound about ridiculous," the boy said patiently but seriously, "but Hobak here says that he is a reincarnation. Apparently, in his last life, he was a human servant who was in love with the daughter of a noble. The girl loved him back as well but her parents did not support their marriage and separated them. But they did not give up and ran away, getting married together to start a new life elsewhere. But her father sent people to get him killed and she died along with him while trying to protect him. But their love was pure and strong and so, the Gods have given them a chance to find each other in this life. If they manage to find each other, they will get a chance to live again as humans and to finally be with each other again. And he needs our help to search for his bride."

What. The. Actual. Fuck. 

Taehyun had heard a lot of ridiculous things over his entire life. This has got to top all of them. His exhaustion had flown away the moment Beomgyu started this weird story and looked at him with such sincerity that it looked too real to be a prank.

"What kind of sick joke is this?" Taehyun asked, unable to form coherent sentences because of how stunned he actually was. "Is this a prank? Is this the part where you friend pops out from behind the door with a camera and claims to have shot this for a stupid YouTube video?"

"What? No!" Beomgyu seemed agitated and insulted by Taehyun's words, as if he hadn't pulled this utterly ridiculous stunt upon him. "I meant every word of it. Please believe me, I swear upon the name of my parents, Yeonjun, myself, anything in the world! I'm being very honest with you. I have never told many people about my strange... ability but I trusted you because I want to help Hobak. All I'm asking is for you to co-operate and help me. Please, believe me..."

"Look, you might be a nice guy," Taehyun tried to say as politely as he could. "But this is just ridiculous. You can't honestly expect me to just trust you, a random stranger who I just saw with my cat who's been disappearing for days?!"

"Yeah, because Hobak's trying to find his bride!" Beomgyu insisted immediately, as if it all made perfect sense but Taehyun didn't want to know what made sense. He wanted to know what was logical. And this was definitely not logical. "Look, here, I'll show you that I can talk to Hobak. Hobak, if I'm being honest, if I'm correct, come into my lap."

Beomgyu sat down on his knees in the middle of the hallway and looked at Hobak who swiftly marched over to the boy and placed himself on Beomgyu's lap, but not without looking up at Taehyun and saying, "Meow."

"See?" Beomgyu exclaimed. "He wants you to believe me as well. Please, I'm not lying...."

Taehyun wasn't sure what was the best course of action in their weird case. It didn't look like Beomgyu was pranking him; in fact, the boy seemed to really believe his own words. Hobak also seemed to listen to the boy a lot and Taehyun was just really tired after a day of university and work.

"What can I do to make you believe this, Taehyun-ssi?" Beomgyu pleaded. 

"How do you know my name?" Taehyun demanded. "And Hobak's as well?!"

"Oh," the boy paused, looking at Taehyun strangely. "Um, I'm your neighbour. We also share a few classes, you know? I wasn't sure of your name at first but when I asked Hobak who was his owner, he said that it's you. He told me his own and your name."

Right. All of this was correct if you played along with the boy's fantasy that he could actually talk to animals. Which Taehyun still wasn't sure if he should believe.

"Okay, you know what?" Beomgyu stood up, his face turning serious as he made sure to have a firm grip on Hobak who was now in his hands. "I can tell you all the random things that Hobak knows about you. Hobak, tell me something only you know."

The cat turned to look up at Beomgyu before uttering a string of meows, and for the weirdest second, Taehyun almost thought that the cat was actually responding to Beomgyu. But that can't be real. Humans can't just understand other animals and other animals can't just understand humans. There was no logic in that and it defied science–

"Hobak says that you give him food from XX Company," Beomgyu said, looking straight into Taehyun's eyes intensely. Taehyun's heart dropped. That was right. "He also says that you once told him that you actually like cuddles but you have never had anyone to cuddle with until him."

He had said that as well. God, this was embarrassing...

"He also says that you once accidentally dropped your toothbrush into your toilet and you were so disgusted by it and that it took you an hour to scoop the toothbrush out and then throw it in the garbage bin before you left the house at 12 in the night to get yourself a new toothbrush."

"Okay, okay, I got it," Taehyun said hastily, his cheeks burning at all the things Beomgyu was revealing. If someone was hearing them, he could never show his face to the world, let alone the fact that he had already magically humiliated himself in front of the one boy he found really cute. "So, either you're saying the truth or you have my apartment bugged. In this case, the latter option sounds more logical but..."

Hobak was staring at Taehyun with the widest eyes, almost like he was pleading with Taehyun. Like they were puppy dog eyes. Ha. Taehyun laughed to himself, closing his eyes as he wondered just how tired he was to actually believe this boy. 

"Okay, I believe you," Taehyun said tiredly as he scooped Hobak out of Beomgyu's hands. His hands were warm, unlike Taehyun's cold fingertips. "I'll help you. Or whatever it is that Hobak needs. Goodnight."

With that, Taehyun walked over to his apartment and quickly opened his door. 

"Goodnight!" He heard the boy say from behind him cheerfully and Taehyun found his heart thudding abnormally fast as he shut the door behind him and pressed his back against it. 

✿

Despite how much Taehyun tried to deny it to himself, he couldn't lie to himself that he didn't spend the next few hours that night thinking about the cute and endearing boy that he had met due to Hobak. 

It was silly that he should think of him when he was putting together Hobak's food (the XX Company logo wasn't helping...) or that when he cuddled him and tried to ask Hobak if he could really understand Beomgyu and if it was true (he felt really silly) or that when he went to brush his teeth, the embarrassment of the situation from before just hit him like a truck and he panicked in his bathroom by pacing around his toilet in circles and nearly dropped his toothbrush in once again. 

So yeah, it was safe to say that Taehyun had spent the night thinking about the boy next door's breath-taking smile and sparkling eyes and unbelievable stories. 

The next morning, Taehyun woke up not due to his alarm but due to his doorbell ringing. He wasn't sure if he heard correctly as he sat up in his bed and saw that it was a few minutes before eight, the time his alarm usually went off on Saturdays. But then the doorbell rang again and Taehyun walked out, wondering who could be here so early. 

A sweater-clad Beomgyu greeted him on the other side. Beomgyu waved energetically, Taehyun noticing his sweater paw as his hand whipped in the air and involuntarily thought, 'Cute.'

"What are you doing here so early?" Taehyun's morning voice made it all sound a little bit like a slur, and he quickly cleared his throat in embarrassment before repeating what he said. 

"Well I wasn't sure when we could exactly talk about this," Beomgyu said, leaning against the doorway. "Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry, I would have called you to warn you or something but I don't have your number..."

For a wild moment, Taehyun thought the other boy was flirting with him. Yeah, okay, sleep-adled Taehyun's brain was not thinking realistically so he stepped back and waved at Beomgyu to tell him to come in. Beomgyu removed his footwear the moment he was inside and placed it on Taehyun's short shoe rack before walking over and sitting down on the couch.

"I'll just, freshen up a bit," Taehyun told him. "Don't touch anything."

"Okay," Beomgyu just smiled at him and god, a smile shouldn't make Taehyun's stomach lurch like that but that was what the world had come to. 

When he had quickly brushed and made himself some tea before appearing in front of Beomgyu, the boy was already petting Hobak, who seemed to have woken up and settled himself across Beomgyu's lap. 

"Aren't you spoilt?" Beomgyu cooed at the cat as he carded his fingers through Hobak's short but soft fur. The sight made Taehyun smile subconsciously as he heard the cat meow in response. "That's right, it is my fault. I do spoil you a lot. Should I stop the daily pats and scratches?"

Hobak suddenly meowed sharply and Beomgyu started laughing. Taehyun was going to take a wild guess and say that Hobak wasn't happy with the last line. He wasn't either. 

"What do you mean daily pets and scratches?" Taehyun asked with a slight frown as he settled himself beside Beomgyu on his small couch. Beomgyu looked up at him, his face glowing.

"Oh, it's nothing," he replied. "Whenever Hobak comes over to our apartment I make sure to give him some pets and cuddles and he loves them."

"Just how long has he been coming to your apartment?" Taehyun asked, a bit worried since it was his cat breaching upon someone else's house. Just because their bathroom vents were joint didn't mean that Hobak had to enter their apartment... 

"Uh," Beomgyu seemed to be thinking before he answered, "I think last to last Monday? About three weeks ago."

"So, the very next day since Hobak entered my apartment?" Taehyun was stumped. His cat has been escaping his house every day since he brought him home because, according to what Beomgyu said, he was looking for his bride? Yeah this was a lot to take in. 

"He did," Beomgyu nodded, his mouth curling into a smile as he reminisced that day. "It was quite a day... My first class of the day was cancelled and I was just in my room when Yeonjun-hyung, who had gone to take a bath, burst into my room in just a towel and Hobak in one hand and started screaming at me about how I need to stop bringing animals home. I was dumbfounded and it honestly took me an hour to tell him that it's not me. It was still funny af, though, the way Yeonjun was screaming at me in a towel."

"I'm sorry," Taehyun was embarrassed beyond belief. Hobak had caused so much trouble for the other boy and with what face was he supposed to apologize? 

"It's okay," Beomgyu waved his hand, not looking deterred at all. "I got to know Hobak and so you!"

The words made Taehyun blush once again. This boy in front of him had made him blush more in the past 24 hours than his entire life combined, to be honest. 

"Um, so why are you here so early?" Taehyun asked, his eyes flitting to the clock on the stand beside the door. It was 8:31 now. His work started at 10 so he still had some time before he had to leave. 

"Well, I know you go somewhere on Saturdays," Beomgyu said quickly. Taehyun's head whipped towards the boy, finding it strange that the boy knew. For the first time since they met, Beomgyu flushed pink at his own words. "I mean, I have seen you leave on Saturdays around 10 so I thought you might have work or something. I just wanted to catch you before you go."

"Yeah, I do have work on Saturdays," Taehyun nodded, still finding his heart thudding in his chest because he was a bit scared. The amount of things Beomgyu knew about him was a bit creepy and scary. Atleast for someone who was just a neighbour. Taehyun didn't know these things about Beomgyu, did he? "So why did you want to catch me?"

"Oh right, to discuss about how we are going to look for Hobak's bride," Beomgyu said as he resumed petting Hobak who purred in pleasure as he stretched himself on Beomgyu's lap, ready to fall asleep again. "You see, I work in an animal shelter that's two bus-stops away from here. There are a lot of animals there so I was thinking of taking Hobak along with me to see if his bride is there. I wanted to ask your permission since you're his owner and I can't just take him, despite it being Hobak who comes to our apartment everyday. Also, if you want, you can drop Hobak at our apartment when you go to university. He wants to go outside and walk a bit as well, so I was thinking of taking him to the park that's near our building."

"Oh," Taehyun wasn't sure. He barely knew the boy, letting him take Hobak... "Uh, I'll come with. I mean, you probably don't mean anything bad but I can't just trust you with Hobak. Sorry."

"No, no, it's completely natural," Beomgyu reassured him. "I would have been worried if you just gave Hobak away to me. I can barely part away from the animals I usually take care of in the shelter. When new visitors come, I always make sure to keep an eye over them because I'm so worried for them. So, I don't mind you coming along."

"Yeah," Taehyun put up a small smile, grateful that the boy understood and didn't feel offended over it. He quickly dialled Seokjin and told him that he was going to take the day off, something which made Seokjin frustrated for two reasons; one, that he hadn't informed him yesterday and two, that he couldn't tell him what was going on with Hobak. 

"So then, come on!" Beomgyu said brightly. "You go and get ready. I'll wait at my apartment for you."

With that, Beomgyu got up from his couch and left but not without a cute smile and a wave of his hand that left Taehyun feeling breathless.

✿

If someone had told Taehyun a month ago that he would be going on a search for the bride of his cat with a cute boy who can talk to animals, he would have deemed them crazy and convinced them to join a mental institution. 

But it was the truth and Taehyun could have denied that it wasn't fun, but he didn't like to lie to himself. And I, the author, don't like to lie to you, the reader. So yes, Taehyun had in fact, enjoyed the past few weeks of his life. 

Hanging out with Beomgyu was a terrible load of fun, as Taehyun had found out soon enough. The older boy was a chatterbox and seemingly had an endless list of things to talk about. And Taehyun, despite himself, found himself enjoying everything he did and said. 

He had come to know a lot of things about the boy, and he was starting to like him even deeper and deeper as he learnt new things about him. And if Taehyun had a small crush on him before, then now he liked him too deeply to actually let him go. 

It was the little things about him that made him fall for the boy, if he thought about it. 

It was the way Beomgyu talked to all the animals in his shelter with so much love and care that it was so endearing to him. It was the way the animals seemed to love Beomgyu and always lingered around him;

"No, Chim, stop!" The black-haired boy giggled as the old dog continued licking his hand instead of his face that he had tried to cover. "It tickles! Chim, please?"

Beomgyu was giving the biggest puppy dog eyes to a dog and Taehyun was giggling at the irony of it all as the dog stopped and yipped at Beomgyu, who started trying to convince the dog with a pout on his face. 

Taehyun saw the other workers at the shelter smile fondly as well as they saw the two of them playing around. Beomgyu was so endearing and charming that everyone loved him. And maybe Taehyun did a bit too.

Then it was the way Beomgyu always made sure that Taehyun is okay. He never let his own opinions clash with Taehyun's decisions. If Taehyun couldn't accompany them, he didn't take Hobak anywhere and even when Taehyun was okay and trusted the boy enough to let him take Hobak by himself, Beomgyu gently denied and said that it's okay. That he doesn't have to entrust Hobak with him. That Hobak enjoyed spending that time with him as much as he did with Beomgyu. 

It was the way Beomgyu did little things for him, like making sure Hobak is fed and groomed even if he doesn't have to. He sometimes came by to give Taehyun the dinner his roommate, Yeonjun, made for the two of them (and those days, for the three of them) and when Taehyun protested and apologized for making them go out of their way, Beomgyu just waved him off and told him that he wanted to do it and Yeonjun, despite all his bickering with the boy, could never say no to his wishes. 

Maybe it was the little things like these that had made Taehyun think one day, that they looked like a family. 

It was a snowy day, somewhere around the middle of December and Beomgyu was snuggled up in three scarves and two coats and thick gloves that made him look rounder and cuter. He had insisted his own fourth scarf around Taehyun, who was only wearing one, and Taehyun was blushing as he smelled the faint waft of Beomgyu's cologne on it. 

Hobak was also swamped in a small sweater that apparently Beomgyu had crocheted for him (something Taehyun hadn't known he could do until he came into their apartment at 4 in the afternoon with an advance Christmas gift for Hobak) and a small sock that was folded to cover his ears and head like a beanie.

Taehyun tightened his hold on Hobak and looked around at the small park they were wandering in, taking in the surrounding people. The park had a thick layer of snow coating it and not a lot of people were around. A small family of three was standing near a fast food truck, holding some hot steaming food in their hands. 

And it was as Beomgyu offered him to come back to his apartment to grab some hot chocolate, that the thought flashed by in Taehyun's mind; they were like a small, cute family with Hobak as their kid. It was ridiculous but cute and nothing new with all the flurry of thoughts that often invaded Taehyun's mind now-a-days. 

God, he was so gone for this boy...

And before he had realised, Taehyun had started to like Beomgyu. The realisation struck him like a truck when Beomgyu pouted and sniffled in the lobby of their apartment building, pleading with Taehyun.

"But do you have to?" He whined like a child, making some of the people loitering in the lobby area turn around to look at them. Taehyun ignored them.

"Hyung, please understand," he played with his lower lip as he spoke, hoping the boy would understand and let him go. "I know you want me to join you on your friends' Christmas party, and I would love to join, but this is too last minute. I can't just tell my parents that I'm suddenly not coming! They will disapprove of it. Please hyung, I promise, we can go wherever you want when I come back. It's not even that long. I'm just going for two days. I can even meet your friends when I come back!"

"Okay," Beomgyu stopped sniffling but his eyes looked at Taehyun with the same intensity that made him weak in the knees. "You can go this time, but I'm not leaving you alone when you come back."

"Yup, got it," Taehyun gave him a wide toothy smile and it made Beomgyu smile warmly at him. Taehyun swore it was the sweaters he was wearing that made him feel warm inside, but even he knew that was a lie.

"Come back soon," Beomgyu's words were muffled as he took Taehyun in for a hug. Taehyun sighed into the hug, thinking about how Beomgyu gave the best hugs in the world. "Oh my god, look at the time!! Your bus!!"

And then Beomgyu had grabbed his hand and started running like a madman to their nearest bus-stop. And as Taehyun clutched Beomgyu's hand tightly with his left one, and the right one holding onto his bag for dear life, he looked at the boy who was laughing loudly as they ran past the snow-covered streets. 

Yeah, he definitely, 100% liked this boy. 

❀

"Done saying goodbye to your lover boy?" Yeonjun asked from the doorway of his bedroom that he was leaning against. Beomgyu blushed but since his cheeks were already pink from the cold, he shot Yeonjun a small playful death glare. 

"He isn't my lover," he supplied hopelessly. Yeonjun rolled his eyes as he got off the doorway and walked over to Beomgyu, tilting his head with a knowing smile.

"But you want him to be," Yeonjun said in a sing-song voice. "Come on now, I'm sorry your crush can't join us but Soobinie's waiting for us and I can't wait to kiss him under the mistletoe I made Kai put over the doorway of his apartment!"

"And I'm the one with a crazy deep crush," Beomgyu rolled his eyes but the smile on his face was evidence of how happy he was for his friend. "Let's go."

✿

"Soobinie!!" 

Yeonjun pounced on the blue-haired boy who let out a small oof before Yeonjun placed his lips on him and then Beomgyu looked away, not wanting to intrude on their private moment. He squeezed himself inside the apartment and looked around, since it was the first time he was here. 

"Ah, you must be... Beomgyu-ssi!" A brown-haired boy said, walking out of the kitchen and smiling at him. 

"I am," Beomgyu affirmed. "And you must be...?"

"Soobin-hyung's roommate and friend, Kai," he seemed bright but Beomgyu got distracted by some movement behind Kai. He tilted his head and found a white fluffy cat walking out of the kitchen. 

"Oh!" Beomgyu immediately walked over, his immediate response to animals kicking in. He crouched in front of the cat, who looked at him with wide blue eyes but didn't budge from her spot. 

"Oh, that's my cat, Seoltang," Kai said happily. "Do you like cats, Beomgyu-ssi?"

"Call me hyung," Beomgyu said, his index finger immediately running to the top of Seoltang's head as he tried to ease the cat into knowing him. "And I love all animals!"

"Oh yeah, you work at an animal shelter, don't you?" Soobin had finally parted from Yeonjun enough to speak up. "I find it cute. Yeonjun-hyung told me you have a great affinity with animals."

"Yeah, I guess you can call it that," Beomgyu shared a smile with Yeonjun, since the other boy knew about Beomgyu's ability to talk to animals. 

"I'm going to order some food," Soobin said, pointing at his phone. "What do you want?"

Beomgyu quickly told his order before returning to look at Seoltang who meowed at him. Beomgyu smiled as the cat let him know that if he hurt Kai, she was going to scratch him. The three other boys went into the kitchen at the time so Beomgyu decided it was safe to speak to her.

"You remind me of Hobak," Beomgyu whispered to her. "When I first got to know him and told him about how I knew his owner, Taehyun, he told me that if I hurt him, he will scratch me. You two are so similar."

Seoltang meowed back at him, asking who Taehyun and Hobak were.

"Taehyun is...," Beomgyu smiled inwardly as he thought about the red-haired boy. "He is my neighbour. And my classmate in university. And I've liked him for a long time."

The last sentence was a whisper so that only Seoltang could hear it and not Kai or Soobin by mistake. He knew it wasn't any use hiding it from the cat since she probably knew because of the pheromones or whatever that was released. 

She meowed again, asking if he liked him back and that he still hadn't answered who Hobak was. 

"I don't know if he likes me," Beomgyu answered truthfully, gently patting her back. "And Hobak is his cat. I love Hobak, he's just sassy and funny. Oh!"

Beomgyu suddenly thought about Hobak's bride. Seoltang could be his bride! He didn't have Hobak with him to confirm it but he could ask Seoltang. 

"Hey Seoltang?" He said to the cat and she meowed to let him know that he had her attention. "Hobak is... Hobak is searching for his lover. She was his lover from a past life and they got separated. Do you know... Are you...?"

"Past life? Lover?" Kai's voice asked from behind him in confusion and Beomgyu whipped his neck around in alarm. "What are you talking about? To Seoltang of all the beings in this house?"

"Oh, um, it's nothing," Beomgyu quickly put up a fake smile. "I was just thinking about something and ended up saying it to Ho– I mean, Seoltang. Sorry, I mean, I know she's your cat–"

Seoltang suddenly put her face in his palm and meowed. Beomgyu gasped. She said yes. She is Hobak's bride! She meowed some more, telling him thank you for finding her lover. Beomgyu nodded and patted her head since he couldn't speak to her. He tried to tell her through his eyes that she's welcome. 

"Uh... I can see that Seoltang really likes you," Kai said kindly. "And like, I don't want to stop you from spending time with her but Yeonjun-hyung and Soobin-hyung are pulling out the drink bottles and Soobin-hyung's cake and they want you to join us in the kitchen."

"Oh, yeah, I will play with Seoltang later," Beomgyu smiled and got up, waving at Seoltang before following Kai to the kitchen. Finally, he can tell Hobak that he found his bride for him. Hobak will finally get his happily ever after. And Taehyun will–

Taehyun. Beomgyu paused in sipping his drink that he had taken from Yeonjun as finally realised what this meant for him and Taehyun. The only reason Taehyun and he hung out was to search for Hobak's bride. They had never actually gone anywhere without that incentive. Does this mean that this is where their journey stops?

Even if Taehyun would deny, without Hobak, they won't meet up as often as possible and it destroyed the one link he had with the boy he had crushed on ever since he saw him help tutor one of the kids in their Psychology class all those months ago. 

The gravity and finality of the situation sunk into Beomgyu and dread filled his stomach. He was going to lose Taehyun. 

✿

"Seoltang," Beomgyu crouched down once again. They were about to leave, Kai trying to keep a drunk Yeonjun off of a passed-out Soobin. Yeonjun was wailing about how Soobin had died and he was all alone in the world and he was straight-out crying. Beomgyu had taken this chance to quickly catch Seoltang, who seemed horrified by the entire situation. "I, um, is it okay if I bring Hobak here after a week or two? I can't, um, I can't do it in the next few days."

She meowed an okay at him, telling him that as long as he can find her lover, she was ready to wait an eternity. 

"Thank you," Beomgyu said gratefully just as Kai called him, "Beomgyu-hyung! Please help me here, I don't know how to convince Yeonjun-hyung!"

"Coming, coming!" Beomgyu hastened towards Yeonjun, who was now howling over Soobin extremely loudly and yet Soobin was still passed-out. "Hyung! Oh my god, you're such an idiot! You're drunk! And so is Soobin-hyung!"

"No, n- no, Beomie, look, he isn't responding to me," Yeonjun said through his sobs as he prodded Soobin's cheek with his finger. Beomgyu placed Yeonjun's hand over Soobin's nose and said, "See? He's breathing, hyung. Can't you feel the air?"

"Air?" Yeonjun stopped wailing as he stared at his own hand. Then he looked up at Beomgyu with wide eyes. "No."

Beomgyu sighed. He was never going to let Yeonjun get drunk without getting himself drunk enough to not have to deal with this. 

"We need to go home," Beomgyu said to him. "Or you can sleep with Soobin in his bed and I'll go to our apartment by myself, since you're too heavy for me to carry."

Yeonjun gasped, "I can't sleep with a dead body!"

"Hyung," Beomgyu said in a warning tone. "I know you're acting. And if you don't stop now, I will make you pay for it tomorrow."

Yeonjun promptly shut his mouth up before scrunching his face up and pouting at Beomgyu. "You're no fun."

"I'm not in the mood right now, hyung," Beomgyu frowned. "Sorry for troubling you Kai. I'll help you take these two inside. Then I'll leave and let you finally sleep."

"Thank you, hyung," Kai said gratefully before struggling to pick up the tall blue-haired boy. As Beomgyu helped him and poked Yeonjun with his toe to let him know that he should stand up as well, he felt his heart sink to his stomach. 

Why must things happen this way?

✿

Taehyun was calling him. 

Beomgyu quickly pressed the volume button so that the call won't be denied but it will go silent. He watched the name stay on his screen for some time before the call ended. He sighed. 

It had been three days since the Christmas party at Soobin's. Beomgyu hadn't left his apartment for a minute since then and had chosen to make his room into a survival spot. Yeonjun dropped by to give him lunch and dinner as he pretended to be busy with university assignments. Which he did do when he wasn't feeling particularly down. 

But other than that, he was doing very badly. He was avoiding Taehyun in hopes of getting himself used to not having the boy around but Taehyun had been calling him since the day before, when he came back. It took all of Beomgyu's mental strength to not pick up the phone and listen to Taehyun's sweet voice. 

His phone pinged as he received a text from Taehyun and this time, his hands opened the messages before he could stop himself. 

«Taehyun» Hey hyung! I've been calling you but you haven't answered. Is everything okay?

Beomgyu debated if he should answer but then he stopped himself. No, he couldn't. If he interacted with Taehyun, he will never be ready for the heartbreak. He needed to prepare himself. He needs to make sure that he can let go of Taehyun before he actually tells him about Seoltang. 

❀

Taehyun was confused. 

Ever since he had come back home, he hadn't even seen Beomgyu, let alone talk to him. And that was nearly a week ago now. He missed the older boy and all the ways he used to bother him and Hobak.

He missed the little hang-outs with the boy, all under the search for the bride of Hobak. He missed his cute smiles and giggles and the way he sometimes got them lost and became confused about what they were there to do until Taehyun gently explained it. 

He wondered if there was some serious reason why Beomgyu was avoiding him; because there's nothing he can call what Beomgyu was doing to him. Beomgyu had seen his messages but hadn't replied. Everytime he called, no one answered and when he saw Yeonjun four days after coming back, the older boy uncomfortably told him that Beomgyu wasn't sick and that he couldn't say more and apologized to him for that. 

So yeah, Taehyun was confused and wondered if he did something wrong. Beomgyu couldn't possibly be angry about the fact that he couldn't attend his friends' Christmas party, right?

Tomorrow was the last day of holidays and Taehyun couldn't take the silence anymore. He had felt down ever since he had come back and if he had done something wrong, he would go and apologize to Beomgyu for it. But he can't just stay away from the boy any longer or he would go insane. He was already missing him like crazy and everytime Hobak meowed at him, he was one step away from crying. 

So with a determined heart, Taehyun woke up the next morning and marched straight over to the apartment next to his and rang the doorbell. Yeonjun opened the door and looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, Taehyun," Yeonjun said to him with a small smile. "What are you doing here so early?"

"It's 9 in the morning, hyung," Taehyun stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Just because he was a morning person didn't mean the entire world was. 

"That's still early," Yeonjun said with amusement, not moving out of the way or calling him inside so Taehyun decided to say it himself, "Can I come in?"

"I... guess," Yeonjun's eyes flickered inside before he moved out of the way to let Taehyun in. He gestured him to sit on the couch and then started going inside. "Just a minute... You probably want to meet Beomgyu, right?"

"Yeah," Taehyun said weakly, feeling his resolve disappear for a few seconds, worrying if the boy wouldn't see him even now. Yeonjun nodded and made his way to one of the two doors and closed it behind him. There was silence for a few minutes as Taehyun fidgeted uncomfortably, deciding that he will be honest with Beomgyu. Tell him that he misses him, that he's sorry, that he... that he wants him back. 

When the door opened, Yeonjun made a beeline for the front door and made his way out, leaving a nervous Beomgyu behind him. Funnily enough, Beomgyu was wearing the same clothes he wore when Taehyun found him talking to Hobak for the first time.

"Hey," Beomgyu's voice was small and his smile was definitely fake as he sat beside Taehyun on the couch. There was an awkward silence. "Um, do you want some–"

"I like you, hyung," Taehyun accidentally blurted out. His own confession surprised him and he mentally cursed himself for just saying it like this, but he couldn't take it back. Beomgyu's eyes were wide as saucers and he was gaping at him like a fish outside water. "I really like you, hyung. I like spending time with you, I like going to different places with you and Hobak and I missed you. I don't know if I did something wrong but if I did, please forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you or anything so if I did something to cause that, I apologise. I just, I really, really miss you. Please don't avoid me."

"I, I," Beomgyu's voice was squeaky and a bit high, unlike his normal deep tone and if Taehyun wasn't worried about their friendship, he would have giggled at the sound. "I like you too!"

That was not what Taehyun was expecting. Pink coated his cheeks as he stared at the older boy in contained excitement. "Y- You do?"

"I, I've had a crush on you for such a long time now," Beomgyu confessed. "Even before the Hobak situation. I, I can't believe that you like me too..."

"I do, hyung," Taehyun said eagerly. "I like you so much, it's a bit terrifying. But not having you around is even more scary. Please don't avoid me like that. Why did you do that? Was it something I did?"

"No, no, Hyunnie!" Beomgyu said, using his nickname that always made Taehyun flush to the tips of his toes. "It was... It was just me. I, I found Hobak's bride. And I was just scared that this meant that we won't spend any more time together. I was scared and devastated because of that."

"You what?!" Taehyun nearly shouted, his excitement completely visible on his face this time. "You found his bride? Oh my god, Hobak will be so happy! And hyung, god, did you really think that I didn't enjoy spending time with you?"

"I did," Beomgyu confessed, looking down at his lap in shame. But Taehyun took his hands into his own and squeezed them gently. 

"I'm not going anywhere, hyung," Taehyun promised him. "Do you... Will you be my boyfriend?"

"I– yes!" Beomgyu was ecstatic. He didn't remember the last time he had been this happy as when Taehyun swooped down and gave him a light cheek kiss before promptly blushing. "Hyunnie, can I kiss you?"

Taehyun shyly averted his eyes before nodding and god, he was just so cute, Beomgyu couldn't hold back any longer. 

He kissed him square on the lips. 

✿

"This is so weird," Soobin commented. 

The four of them were walking to Soobin and Kai's apartment which was a building away from theirs. Taehyun had Hobak in his hands. The chilly winds of January felt nice over all the warm clothes they were wearing. 

"I don't understand why you want to introduce Taehyun's cat to Seoltang but it's the weirdest thing I have ever heard of," Soobin continued as they stepped inside the elevator in his building. 

"We just think they'll be great friends, hyung," Beomgyu reasoned. 

"Isn't Hobak a male?" Soobin shot him a side glance. "What if we end up having a litter of kittens? Who's going to take care of them?"

"..."

The three other boys didn't know how to answer to that. Yeonjun started on another topic to distract Soobin and Beomgyu crouched low so that only Hobak and Taehyun could hear him.

"Go slow, okay, Hobak?" Beomgyu whispered. "We can't take care of any kids you might have."

Hobak meowed at him, threateningly swiping his paw in the air as he told the boy off for being like this. Beomgyu just giggled and that prompted Taehyun to giggle as well. 

"But you two do look good together," Soobin commented as they stepped out of the elevator and walked over to Soobin and Kai's apartment. He rang the doorbell. Beomgyu and Taehyun blushed at his compliment and just shared a quick glance with each other. 

Kai opened the door and let them all in, saying, "Oh my, all of you? And there's someone new here!"

"I'm Kang Taehyun," Taehyun bowed to him. "Beomgyu-hyung's boyfriend."

"Wh–," Kai seemed surprised. "You got a boyfriend in this short amount of time? Damn, Beomgyu-hyung, you're fast! Oh, and I am Huening Kai, just call me Kai."

"You can ca–," before Taehyun could finish his sentence, Hobak suddenly jumped out of his hands and sprinted towards the fluffy, white cat that appeared from the kitchen. The two started nuzzling each other and Beomgyu and Taehyun beamed at them, happy to see the two lovers reunited. 

"Um, what's going on?" Kai asked in confusion, watching his cat act all intimate with another cat that he had never seen before. 

"I'm confused," Soobin added, looking at the other three boys who shared a glance before they started laughing. 

Who was going to tell these two that Seoltang was the bride of Hobak?

✿

The End!

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, this was fun to write ☺️ It was supposed to be like 6-7k but it ended up being nearly 10k, haha... I hope you enjoyed it!  
> Please leave kudos or a comment if you did! I love reading your comments, they make me so happy 🥰💜


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